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Ancient Agora Tour with Plaka Neighborhood

Discover every day life in the ancient world with an expert
From US$291 privately
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Tour Details
Duration
3 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
  • Kerameikos
  • Roman Agora
  • Monastiraki Neighborhood
  • Plaka Neighborhood
  • Agora
Photos & Highlights
  • Gain an in-depth understanding of ancient Athens through art, literature, politics, and philosophy
  • Led by an archaeologist
Select a date
Tour Description
The birthplace of democracy and standard bearer of classical art, literature, and philosophy, Athens is widely considered the touchstone of Western civilization. In one of our most popular tours of Athens, we explore the Ancient Agora of Athens, Kerameikos, Roman Agora, and other sites in Plaka and Monastiraki, looking at the social, political, and economic underpinnings of Greek accomplishments while exploring aspects of daily life in the ancient city.

Ancient Agora Tour of Athens

Our tour begins in the Agora, the centerpiece of daily life in the antique city. The Agora consists of a confusing jumble of ruins spanning over 2000 years. Our trained archaeological scholar will spend time helping us decipher the visual clues in the landscape and recreate, through its various phases, the built environment of this area. We'll look closely at such buildings as the Stoa, Hephasteion, and Odeion of Agrippa, and discuss their role in daily life. Our guide may trace the economic history of ancient Greece as the city evolved, discussing the rise of successively more complex systems of trade and commerce and their impact on the Athenian city. We'll spend ample time within the museum of the Stoa where there is a wonderful collection of finds from the Agora excavations.

Rituals and Growth

From here, our tour can go in a variety of directions. We could head towards the Kerameikos, an excavated burial area where we can look at how ancient Athenians dealt with death. Or, we could head into the Plaka area, where remnants of ancient Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman structures still remain, including the impressive library built for the Emperor Hadrian. This building provides a wonderful backdrop for tracing the development of the city after its Roman conquest in the first century BCE.

How They Lived

We'll finish up on the leafy streets of Plaka with a strong sense of how normal people lived during the classical and post-classical periods, and how political and social forces shaped the city throughout its history. This tour is often combined with our Acropolis Tour to paint a vivid portrait of ancient Athens.


Please Note:
Tickets to the Agora and other key sites in Athens are not included in the tour price, and need to be purchased on the day of the tour. There are various ticket combinations which visitors should note before deciding which to buy (based on their planned itinerary):

Ancient Agora ONLY: EUR 10
Acropolis and Theater of Dionysos ONLY: EUR 20
Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Keramikos, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Library: EUR 30 - Recommended for those also taking our Acropolis Tour or our Acropolis and Agora Tour for Kids 
Children under 18 may enter all sites except the Acropolis Museum free of charge with a valid ID.

FAQ

Where do we meet? Where does the tour end? 
We meet in the Monastiraki area and the tour usually finishes in Plaka (however, this could vary per guide) Your confirmation email will have the exact meeting point details along with a map.

What happens if it’s raining? 
Our tours happen rain or shine. Our guides are great at adapting their route during changes of weather. Please bring an umbrella. 

Is this tour walking-intensive and/or wheelchair accessible?
The Ancient Greek Agora is wheelchair-friendly. Please contact us to discuss in more detail your mobility concerns so that we can best advise.

Is this tour suitable for kids?
For families traveling with children under 13, we recommend booking our Acropolis and Agora Tour for Kids, which has been especially designed with younger learners in mind and is led by a family-friendly guide.
Where You'll Start
138 Reviews (4.75)

Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.

Panos was fantastic! He was incredibly knowledgeable and lots of fun.
One of the best we have had. She had my 11 and 13 year old boys super engaged with great story-telling. What makes a guide and a historian good? How good they are at story-telling and she was excellent! Thank you Context!
This is a great tour that we did after touring the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum earlier in the day. It was a great compliment to our morning activities and really helped to give us an idea of ancient Athens and its civic life, as well as some of the modern neighborhoods in the area. I highly recommend the tour, especially if you can go with Alexandros. Alexandros was an amazing guide who brought ancient Athens to life for us. He was incredibly knowledgeable, personable, and charming. Our tour with Alexandros is the highlight of our trip so far and we are glad that we were able to spend the afternoon with him in Athens. Thank you, Alexandros!